Mumbai: A city court has held that depriving a woman of a physical relationship and suspecting her amounts to cruelty. The court granted divorce on this ground to a 27-year-old woman from Andheri who was married for three years. “The respondent (husband) has no right to deprive the petitioner (wife) from physical relations or to suspect her character. It can be safely said that such conduct is more than sufficient which amounts to cruelty,” the court said.
The court also directed the 33-yearold man to pay the woman Rs 3 lakh as permanent alimony.
The couple were in love and in a relationship for about two years. They married in February 2009. In the petition, filed in February 2012 seeking divorce on grounds of cruelty, the woman alleged that once the marriage ceremony was over, she was shocked to see that the husband’s family had occupied the room that her father had arranged for the couple’s first night. She further stated that the man was fired from his job and was unemployed till October 2009. During this time, the man refused to consummate the marriage under the pretext that he was stressed, the woman alleged. The woman further claimed that when they went to Goa in March 2010, the situation persisted. She alleged that her mother-in-law abused, harassed and constantly instigated her to leave their home. Things became worse after she also emotionally blackmailed her husband. The woman also said that her husband suspected her character.
Despite being served notices, the husband failed to appear in court. In March this year, the court decided to proceed ex parte.
In court, the woman and her father testified. She said that in August 2011, she revealed to her parents the details of the marriage, including the fact that it was never consummated. The woman stated that her father was shocked and mortified and discussed the issue with the man’s father but nothing worked out.
The court observed that from the evidence, it was obvious that though the couple were in love before their marriage, it vanished from the day of the marriage itself. “Character is the biggest ornament of any person, particularly for women. No one could tolerate if the character is suspected for no reasons,” the court observed.
The court pointed out that mental cruelty must be of such nature that the parties cannot reasonably be expected to live together. “Marriage gives right and casts liabilities in the spouse. It is but natural for the parties to have justifiable expectations from each other. Physical relationship is one of the most basic marital obligations. No party has right to deprive other from marital bliss without any justifiable reason,” the court said.